Reports
that there has been an outbreak of flu at The Citadel have been overstated,
Citadel officials announced Monday.

During
the month of November, The Citadel infirmary had five confirmed cases
of the flu out of 10 students who had complained of flu-like symptoms.
The others were a variety of illnesses such as bronchitis and sinusitis.

The
number of flu cases, while somewhat higher than normal, is not unexpectedly
high, according to infirmary physician Dr. Clay Robertson.

"Every
year we have a flurry of respiratory problems," Robertson said. "That's
what we expect. The good news for us is these are young, healthy folks
and influenza is usually a mild disease. We are able to get them into
the infirmary, treat them and get them back to the barracks and their
classes within 24 to 48 hours."

Robertson
said there is still cause for concern about a flu outbreak. The Centers
for Disease Control has predicted this flu season could be unusually bad,
with outbreaks earlier than the typcial months of January and February
due to a flu strain that is somewhat resistant to vaccines.